On his day he was the greatest of them all. But as always the story’s never quite a simple as it appears…

 

Best-known today as an outspoken commentator but for three years between 1973-6 Miller played the game as well as it has ever been played – even Nicklaus was in awe of what he could do. Two Majors are scant return for the dominance he showed and that final day 63 in the US Open at Oakmont in 1973 remains one of golf’s greatest ever rounds.

Tom Watson played with Miller in 1974 as he shot 61 in the last round to win the Tucson Open by 14 strokes and said: ‘That was the best pure-striking round of golf I have ever seen.’ Miller replied: ‘For the past 12 months I’ve played better than anybody in the world,’ and this unflinching honesty has made him as many enemies as friends. He loves to talk about choking, and says it’s his favourite word, and he has incurred the anger of many by discussing the phenomenon – about which he says he’s a leading authority because he experienced it so often – from the commentary booth.

Miller’s career was born of a tragic accident. When he was 10, his beloved older brother drowned in the Pacific and to help him cope with the grief, Johnny’s father erected a net in the garage, into which the distraught youngster would pound golf balls all day. Ten years later, in 1966, he went to the US Open to get a job as a caddy, entered the final qualifying, made the event proper and finished eighth. His ball-striking, particularly with irons, was exceptional but he was a streaky putter who quite quickly fell victim to the yips – one temporary cure was to paint a red dot at the base of his putter’s grip and he looked at that, rather than the ball, as he made his stroke.

But although he burned very brightly it didn’t last long. He switched club manufacturer just after spending a winter in Utah chopping down trees, which he says ruined his swing. Also, as a committed Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints) with six children, he resented the constant travel of a Tour pro’s life – he was always far too sane to enjoy being on the road all the time.

In 1981 he knuckled down for a spectacular reminder of who he was, winning twice in America and becoming the leading money winner in the world after victory in the Million Dollar Challenge at Sun City, where he beat Seve Ballesteros in a mammoth nine-hole playoff.